Govt considers revoking Yasin Malikâ€™s passport

Embarrassed and angered by Kashmiri separatist leader YasinMalik's decision to share the stage with 26/11 mastermind HafizSaeed in Islamabad to mourn the hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru, the government is weighing the option of revoking his passport on grounds of national security.

It also seems certain the Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) leader will be questioned by security agencies as soon as he returns home to explain his hobnobbing with India's most-wanted terror fugitive, almost giving Saeed legitimacy as a champion of the Kashmiri cause.

Participating in funeral prayers for Afzal held in absentia by pro-Kashmir groups in Islamabad on Sunday, Malik called his hanging a "blot on Indian democracy". Malik is in Pakistan to visit his wife, a Pakistani national.

Even as the pro-azadi JKLF leader urged leaders from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) to organize public protests against Guru's hanging, Saeed, who was to lead the funeral prayers at 2pm, reached the venue ahead of schedule and left after urging the Pakistani government not to maintain silence on the Kashmir issue.

Incidentally, this is not the first time that Kashmiri separatists rubbed shoulders with Saeed. A moderate Hurriyat delegation led by Mirwaiz Umer Farooq had reportedly met Saeed and Hizbul Mujahideen chief Syed Salahuddin in December during a visit to Pakistan, much to the chagrin of the Indian security agencies.

The government has been criticized for allowing Hurriyat leaders to visit Pakistan in the light of their meetings with Saeed and Salahuddin. The Hurriyat has neither denied nor confirmed the meetings. Malik's meeting has added to the pressure on the government that has so far allowed separatists to visit Pakistan keeping in mind an international audience among other factors.

Now, seeing Malik, who is in Pakistan on a private visit, on the same dais as Saeed has come as a rude jolt for the Indian agencies. "It is not unusual for Malik to make inflammatory remarks in Pakistan, but this time he has gone too far," a senior intelligence official told TOI.

"Saeed has an unofficial carte blanche from the Pakistani agencies to make incendiary statements against India. Given the sentiments and circumstances of Afzal's hanging, it was expected that he would exploit it to attack New Delhi yet again. Though Kashmiri separatists tend to echo anti-India chants when in Pakistan....but for Yasin to be seen on the same platform as Saeed is overlooking the latter's culpability in India's worst-ever terror attack," the official added.

"Considering the possibility of his meeting terrorists and criticizing the government during more such trips abroad, there is a good reason to seize his passport," said the official.

Sources in the security establishment hinted Malik may be detained after he returns to India. Although there could be legal limitations to filing a case against him for an act committed on foreign soil, there is scope of some other charges being pressed against him.

Incidentally, the government had recently denied moderate Hurriyat leader Mirwaiz Umer Farooq permission to attend the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) meet in Cairo as Kashmiri separatists have earlier used the platform to attack New Delhi's Kashmir policy.

Saeed is official Pakistani army 'Kutta' who help recruit many terrorists in that organization. Not only this dog bark against Indian on behalf of Pakistan army but his men as Pakistan army regulars sometime in uniform sometimes in ''Pyjama kameez'' ambush Indian soldiers at borders and J&K